Bafana Bafana Tokelo Rantie striker resurfaces at Cape Town City

Cape Town City have announced the signing of Bafana Bafana striker Tokelo Rantie, who was a free agent after leaving Turkish side Genclerbirligi.

The former Bournemouth forward has seen his once promising career on the skids of late, and he will be looking to rebuild his reputation under Benni McCarthy at City.

Rantie, who has has signed a three-year deal, has not played a competitive game of football since October 2017, when he featured for Genclerbirligi in a 2-1 win over Besiktas.

The 27-year-old briefly gave up the game to go into farming in the Free State (he is from Parys in tha province), but has been lured back to work under McCarthy, who was his strike partner at Orlando Pirates when Rantie first burst on the scene in the 2011/12 Premier Soccer League season.

His return to work is also a boost, of sorts, for national team coach Stuart Baxter, who has long admired Rantie's talents but grew frustrated with him last year when the player turned down successive call-ups.

Rantie was the national team's lead striker before the emergence of Percy Tau, and he has 12 goals in 41 appearances.

After an excellent debut season for Pirates, he was signed by Swedish side Malmo, where he became something of a cult figure among the fans.

He joined then English Championship club Bournemouth in 2013, for an undisclosed fee that was thought to be a club record. He helped the Cherries reach the Premier League, but he never settled on the English south coast and left for Gençlerbirliği in 2016.

Rantie saw more game-time and was lauded for his contribution, but he also failed to settle in Turkey and walked out on the club in October, never to return.

He will add to the striking options of McCarthy that also includes Matthew Rusike, Siphelele Mthembu and Nana Akosah-Bempah.